FURTHER ON LIGHT THE DARK FESTIVAL, DARWIN

Fr Roy O'Neill MSC has sent a text of Bishop Eugene Hurley for the festival.  He was unable to attend and asked Roy to read his message.  Our last report stated that 200 attended. It was a larger attendance, around 400.

We gather this evening to recognise a profound truth, namely that a young 23 year old Iranian man has died.

In itself this is tragic, as is any loss of young life. This gathering is to recognise this tragedy, but also to contemplate the reality that it need not have happened. This is surely tragedy upon tragedy.

This man was seeking asylum in this country, as I understand he has a perfect right to do. He was subsequently detained and transferred to Manus Island on the ground that we abdicated our responsibility to hear his plea.

Whatever has occurred on the fateful night on which he lost his life, we cannot carelessly unload the responsibility on to someone else.

As I understand it, this young man became our responsibility when he sought to have his claim for asylum heard here.

Enquiries will nominate someone or some group for us to blame, but in truth we need to accept that the present policies generate untenable circumstances wherein it is nigh on inevitable that tragedy will occur.

Let us mourn the death of this young man and pray for him and his grieving family. Let us also search our own hearts lest we find that by doing little about justice, we may become complicit.

Thanks to Roy O'Neill for Bishop Hurley's text and the photo.

'Light the dark' vigils across Australia following asylum seeker's death

Phil Reilly MSC, centre, at the Sydney festival, John Hill at right of photo

Roy O'Neill MSC led a group of 200 in Darwin.

Thousands of Australians raise candles as part of protest organised to push for greater scrutiny of immigration policies

Candlelight vigils have been held around Australia for Reza Barati, the Iranian man killed in last Monday's violence at the Manus Island detention centre.

At some 750 sites around the country, including the foot of the Port Adelaide lighthouse, a cattle station in Western Queensland, and major cities, thousands of Australians raised candles to 'light the dark' in protest at Australian immigration policies.

About 15,000 people took part, according to the activist group GetUp! Many also joined the demonstrations using social media, posting their own candlelight tributes and messages of support.

'Many thousands of Australians tonight cried out for change,' said GetUp's national director, Sam Mclean. 'The truth is we just don't know what's happening in these places, the government's shut off the lights, taking censorship to an unprecedented level.'
'We need a truly independent inquiry into this tragedy and proper public scrutiny of these places.'

Mclean said the large turnout to the protests, which were organised last Friday, reflected growing discomfort in the community at 'what's being done in our name'.
'The whole point of offshore detention is to get these policies out of sight, out of mind. As we break down the veil of secrecy that Scott Morrison is aiming to create, more Australians will change their views,' he said.

The vigils come a week after Barati, 23, was killed, and 62 other asylum seekers were injured in a riot at the Australian-run Papua New Guinea detention facility.

The immigration minister, Scott Morrison, has announced two enquiries into the incident. On Sunday, the prime minister, Tony Abbott, defended Morrison, telling journalists he was 'doing a great job for our country'.
'You don't want a wimp running border protection, you want someone who is strong, who is decent and Scott Morrison is both strong and decent,' he said.

AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE
Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office,2014.Media release:

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) expresses great sadness at the tragic loss of life at Manus Island yesterday.

One Iranian asylum seeker died and others were injured in a riot involving 77 asylum seekers on Monday evening. The asylum seeker died after a confrontation with PNG police.

Bishops' Delegate for Migrants and Refugees Bishop Gerard Hanna has called for calm, and urged people to consider the situations which lead asylum seekers to flee countries like Iran.

"Asylum seekers often endure horrific violence and persecution in their home countries. Australia was once a place of refuge but now the journey to Australia is marked by grief,hardship and further exile", said Bishop Hanna.

"Persecution of marginalised groups is the underlying reason the world has so many displaced people. It is essential that nations uphold the rule of law and respect fundamental human rights, such as the right to seek asylum."

"How our government treats those in its care speaks to our community and internationally about what is acceptable in the treatment of our fellow human beings" said Bishop Hanna.

"The current asylum policy is undermining Australia's integrity and reputation in the international arena; Australia is less a country of refuge, but increasingly one of restrictive policies."

The ACMRO calls on the government to ensure each person's claim for protection is considered under Australian Law by competent independent authorities, with appropriate legal assistance and access to an independent judiciary such as the Refugee Review Tribunal.

The same Office urges the government to employ an independent body outside of any Government Department to review the recent events involving the death of an asylum seeker on Manus Island. "In these matters, we stress that the information available to the Australian people ought be transparent in order to fully understand the complex circumstances asylum seekers face while being held in offshore detention facilities," said Bishop Hanna.

PAX CHRISTI AND NONVIOLENCE VOWS

Seattle archbishop blesses Pax Christi nonviolence vows

....and yet not one bishop in NSW, and possibly in Australia is a member of Pax Christi Australia

In the presence of parishioners, friends and visitors, members of three local chapters of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement, gathered Jan. 17 at St. James Cathedral to take a Vow of Nonviolence at a Mass with Archbishop Peter Sartain presiding. Fr. Michael G. Ryan, pastor of St. James Cathedral, concelebrated the Mass.

Standing in a row holding white tapers, 12 men and women publicly committed to foster and promote peace in their lives and through their relationships with others. Sartain received the vows and concluded their words with a blessing. It was the first time that the Vow of Nonviolence had been made in the presence of the archbishop or professed at St. James Cathedral.

Published by Pax Christi in 1985, the vow is based on the belief that it is possible to be transformed through the love and example of Jesus. Beginning with these words - 'Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God' -- the vow references teachings from the Sermon on the Mount and then lists the ways that participants seek to integrate Christ's teachings into their daily lives through a yearlong dedication to peacemaking, care of all creation, and nonviolence........

According to the Pax Christi USA website, its U.S. membership includes more than 100 U.S. bishops, 700 parish sponsors, 600 religious communities, and more than 400 community-oriented groups.......

Read more http://ncronline.org//news/faith-parish/archbishop-blesses-pax-christi-vows

[From MSC Justice Desk]

WANGARI MAATHAI

NAIROBI, Kenya — Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died here on Sunday. She was 71.

The cause was cancer, said her organization, the Green Belt Movement. Kenyan news outlets said that she had been treated for ovarian cancer in the past year and that she had been in a hospital for at least a week before she died.

Dr. Maathai, one of the most widely respected women on the continent, played many roles — environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977. Its mission was to plant trees across Kenya to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel and jobs for women.

Watch short Youtube: http://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/wangari-maathai-i-will-be-hummingbird.html

'It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.'

Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Laureate

'Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect.'

Wangari Maathai

'Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come'

Wangari Maathai

'I'm very conscious of the fact that you can't do it alone. It's teamwork. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it.'

Wangari Maathai The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience

'In trying to explain this linkage, I was inspired by a traditional African tool that has three legs and a basin to sit on. To me the three legs represent three critical pillars of just and stable societies. The first leg stands for democratic space, where rights are respected, whether they are human rights, women's rights, children's rights, or environmental rights. The second represents sustainable and equitable management and resources. And the third stands for cultures of peace that are deliberately cultivated within communities and nations. The basin, or seat, represents society and its prospects for development. Unless all three legs are in place, supporting the seat, no society can thrive. Neither can its citizens develop their skills and creativity. When one leg is missing, the seat is unstable; when two legs are missing, it is impossible to keep any state alive; and when no legs are available, the state is as good as a failed state. No development can take place in such a state either. Instead, conflict ensues.'

Wangari Maathai Unbowed

SOCHI OLYMPICS AND RIGHTS

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

- Olympic Charter

AN INVITATION FROM ANNE JORDAN pbvm, PETER CARROLL msc AND JULIE SNEDDON FOR SYDNEY AND NEW SOUTH WALES.

Over the last few years we have watched homelessness increase.

People leaving jail, refugees, those suffering with mental health issues and addictions are also part of this population and are struggling to survive. The services are doing what they can to support people however it is not enough.

We all need to feel cared for and to have a sense of belonging.

Cana is launching a campaign to recruit volunteers who would be happy to companion people in our community. Our dream is to have 2/3 people helping each other care for someone so they get to experience positive friendship and support.

We have homes in the city, shelters and a farm close by. We see 100s of people each week who are lonely and need to feel connected.

If you would like to learn more about our charity please come to one of our information sessions. Should you have a group who would like to do something together that would be terrific too.

The information sessions are being held in the city and at the farm.

De Porres House 114 Flinders St. Darlingjurst. February 5th at 5.30p.m.
Nagle House 114 Flinders St Darlighurst. February 13th at 10.30 a.m.
February 17th at 5.30p.m.
Garden Shelter Uniting Church
Raglan St.Waterloo February 12th at 6p.m.

Cana Farm 100 kingswood Rd
Orchard Hills. February 9th at 4.30p.m.
February 12th at 2.30p.m.
February 13th at 3p.m.

Thank you and please do not feel coming to an information session means you are making a commitment.

Please RSVP to Anne Jordan
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Julie Sneddon
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PROPE FRANCIS' LETTER TO CARDINALS-ELECT

'Dear brother,

'On the day that your designation as part of the College of Cardinals is made public, I wish to send you a cordial greeting along with the guarantee of my closeness and prayer. It is my hope that, joined with the Church of Rome and 'clothed in the virtues and sentiments of the Lord Jesus', you may help me with fraternal efficacy in my service to the Universal Church.

'The cardinalship does not imply promotion; it is neither an honour nor a decoration; it is simply a service that requires you to broaden your gaze and open your hearts. And, although this may appear paradoxical, the ability to look further and to love more universally with greater intensity may be acquired only by following the same path of the Lord: the path of self-effacement and humility, taking on the role of a servant. Therefore I ask you, please, to receive this designation with a simple and humble heart. And, while you must do so with pleasure and joy, ensure that this sentiment is far from any expression of worldliness or from any form of celebration contrary to the evangelical spirit of austerity, sobriety and poverty.

'Until we meet, then, on 20 February, when our two days of reflection on the family commence. I remain at your disposal and ask you, please, to pray for me and to ask for prayers on my behalf.

May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin protect you.'

FOREIGN AID SPENDING CUTS

Aid groups accuse Coalition of broken promise after it announces new cuts

All funding for environment programs to end, as Coalition focuses aid on countries it needs to support its asylum policy

Joe Hockey: promised aid would be shifted towards NGOs.
Aid groups are accusing the Coalition of breaking an election commitment after it revealed their funding would be cut mid-year as part of a $650m reduction in the former government's budgeted foreign aid spending, leaving 2013-14 spending $107m below what was spent last year.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop announced the cuts for the groups as well as a complete defunding of international environmental programs. The government is redirecting a pared back aid budget towards the region and maintenance of spending on countries such as Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Nauru, whose co-operation is necessary for the success of its asylum policy.

Organisations such as Care, Save the Children, Caritas, ChildFund, Plan International and the Fred Hollows Foundation – who have partnership agreements with the government – have had their current year funding cut by about 8%.

They say that means they are losing money already allocated to programs related to water and sanitation, elimination of violence against women, disaster reduction work and small-scale agriculture, among others.

The organisations say the cuts clearly break a Coalition promise not to cut their funding when it announced a $4.5bn cut to the aid budget over the next four years two days before the federal election.

At the time of that cut, the then shadow treasurer, Joe Hockey, and shadow finance spokesman, Andrew Robb, said "the Coalition will reprioritise foreign aid allocations towards non-government organisations that deliver on-the-ground support for those most in need".

"That will also mean putting more money into NGOs who are on the ground and who can deliver aid more efficiently than through AusAID or indeed through some of the multilaterals that we've been putting money into in increasing numbers because AusAID cannot handle the increases in the budget," then foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said.

The government said it needed to redirect the $4.5bn towards domestic infrastructure. The cut was from projected expenditure – with the aid budget continuing to grow in line with inflation.

She said the government would now consult NGOs and other governments to set benchmarks and stricter reporting standards to ensure future aid spending achieved its objectives.

Julia Newton Howes, chief executive of Care Australia, said her organisation had lost $500,000 from a $20m budget this year.

"This is for aid we had already programmed this financial year. We are now going to have to scramble to work out where we can cut," she said.
Newton Howes, who is also vice-president of the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid) said it was "particularly disappointing that the government is making cuts it promised it would not make before the election".

The government has minimised cuts for countries in the region and those involved in its asylum policy.
Aid funding to Indonesia is $532m, almost $50m more than it received last year, but about $60m less than promised by Labor. The $448m promised to Papua New Guinea has been retained. Nauru's funding has also stayed the same.
The International Labor Organisation will now get no funding from Australia and detailed tables show international environmental programs, already pared back under Labor, will now also get no money.

The government has said it believes aid funding was skewed under the former Labor government as Australia made promises linked with its bid for a seat on the UN security council.

The cuts put Australia even further away from meeting the United Nations' Millenium Development Goal of developed nations spending 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) in aid by 2015. Labor governments had already twice deferred Australia's target of 0.5% of GNI by 2015. Bishop made no mention of the target in her statement.

She said she intended to "ensure the Australian aid budget is managed effectively and directed to organisations delivering on-the-ground support to those most in need".

For Sydney visitors to this site:  Book Launch Invitation

In the Absence of Treaty

This book explores the current inadequacy of the process used in engaging with Aboriginal people, which results in control slipping away from them. It provides concise but incisive account from recent reports about the reasons for the ongoing and growing frustration of many Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. In doing so it hints at possibly the only solution – treaties.

Published by 'concerned Australians' December 2013

Launch

Tuesday January 28 2014 6pm for 6.30pm

Gleebooks 49 Glebe Point Road Glebe Sydney

Speakers

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM Elder from Utopia

Jeff McMullen AM

RSVP

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